help!! itchy horse....need advice asap

[moodymare_1993]

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hello everyone....i have recently bought a new horse, she is a 6yo thoroughbred mare. had her 3 months now.

i have noticed she has become extremely itchy!! no scabs or anything, just lumps on her belly and like i said, itchy everywhere. coat is fine, little dandruffy but no sores, scabs, crusts.

rang vet a week ago, seemed to think she had an allergic reaction, was told to take her off all feeds and wash down 3 times a day to keep cool as the weather has been really hot lately. was just on grass. seemed to take the lumps away but they still come back every few days. they look like when people get nat bites! lumps under the skin, but its the itching thats driving her mad and she has been really moody with it all. who can blame her

does anyone have any advice or had this problem before? suggestions wanted. hate seeing her sooo itchy please help

 

[be positive]

You could try a detox, Naf or Global herbs do them, I have used both for horses with unknown itches and lumps and it has gone very quickly.

 

[moodymare_1993]

could it be the start of sweet itch? i noticed today she was rubbing her mane, and shes often rubs her bum on the stable walls? she always wants a nice scratch everywhere! ive bathed her quite a few times but like i said, every few days they come back, thankfull not as much as on the first day i she had them, her belly looked like it had golf balls growing uner gher skin it was that bad! i have texted the previous owner and she said she used to keep them in their barn on the hot days away from the heat, pollen, flies etc....do you think it could be the fact shes not used to the heat and her body is just reacting?

 

[be positive]

It sounds more like an allergic reaction to either food or fly bites, not midges as in sweet itch they dont tend to swell up in the same way just rub raw. A detox will help whatever the cause and can quickly reduce the itching, one of my liveries had steroid injections that did not help, a few days on a detox and he was so much better.

 

[mandwhy]

It does sound like it could be fly related, have you noticed lots around? Either that or allergy to grass or pollen etc in your area, some people give piriton etc for that, not had to do it myself but I think its about ten tablets a day or thereabouts, herbal is probably a good thing to try!

 

[moodymare_1993]

the vet seemed to think it could be an allegic reaction, hence the washing down 3 times daily, ive had her 3 moths and the first two no problem whatso ever....i bought a fly rug that covers her top to toe and still she gets some lumps, mainly on her belly, shes on no feed other than grass atm although this did start about when i put her on very long grass,, up to my thighs? and it has the long weed looking thing in the grass when it gets to a certan length? i think its possible it may be the pollen in the long grass. as i said, she was fine on the shorter grass i will try the detox. just hate seeing her like this, shes forever turning round to nibble on legs, belly etc lol

 

[Natch]

What weed is it in the grass?

 

[nadine9]

hi mate, you could try Global herbs. I tried at before, and work good

 

[moodymare_1993]

i dont know, it grows above the grass, here is a link to a pic of it, it looks like whats in my grass,....


http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Ho...8&tbnw=133&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:198,i:58


hope the link works

 

[moodymare_1993]

thankyou, defo try global herbs, do you mean the "skratch one"? lol

 

[horsemadelsie]

My boy has a very similar thing- he's only got it this year, since we moved him. I believe it is bug bites- I took him off all his food for a while and if anything it got worse. I have a fly rug that covers his ears, belly and a huge tail flap, it has helped a bit but the flies still get there somehow. I'm also feeding him naf d-itch which seems to stop him being quite so itchy.
If I look closely at him on a nice sunny day, I can see his entire belly is completely covered in flies biting him, he then comes in with a belly covered in lumps feel sorry for him but fly spray doesn't seem to help, so all I can do is try and stop the itching. He also tends to have a little 'dandruff' on his coat.
My boy got so bad I couldn't ride him, but seems to be much happier now. Hopefully yours won't get that bad!

 

[Natch]

i dont know, it grows above the grass, here is a link to a pic of it, it looks like whats in my grass,....


http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Ho...8&tbnw=133&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:198,i:58


hope the link works

If that's yorkshire fog (seems to be) its a type of grass commonly found in pastures, and should be okay I would have thought. I wonder if there are bitey insects in the grass... have you got the option of anywhere else for turnout for a while? You could get the field topped.

 

[moodymare_1993]

My boy has a very similar thing- he's only got it this year, since we moved him. I believe it is bug bites- I took him off all his food for a while and if anything it got worse. I have a fly rug that covers his ears, belly and a huge tail flap, it has helped a bit but the flies still get there somehow. I'm also feeding him naf d-itch which seems to stop him being quite so itchy.
If I look closely at him on a nice sunny day, I can see his entire belly is completely covered in flies biting him, he then comes in with a belly covered in lumps feel sorry for him but fly spray doesn't seem to help, so all I can do is try and stop the itching. He also tends to have a little 'dandruff' on his coat.
My boy got so bad I couldn't ride him, but seems to be much happier now. Hopefully yours won't get that bad!

thats is the exact same story as mine!! i bought a fly rug that covers everywhere aswell, but like yoiu said, the flies still seem to get in there....she is originally from birmingham and i am in huntingdonshire and so it might be her body reacting to the differece in grass, sounds silly but have had the vet out for a similar thing with another horse. its only happened since putting her in the longer grass. i have no where else to turn her out as i have one field in which i rotate her around however i could put her in a patch which she has recently come off? i think its the grass, as i say, she was fine in the shorter grass the only other thing aswell is right behind her field is a farmers field in which they are growing some sort of crop, dont know what tho, will have to take a pic and try find out what it is, defo gunna try the global herbs tho, and will mover her into a different fieldn asap to see if that help, hate seeing her like this

 

[Hedwards]

I'd recomend trying coopers fly repellant- my friend that has a sweet itch pony uses that in conjunction witha full fly rug and the pony is never seen itching at all - its not cheap, but you only apply it every couple of days and really does do the job

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Dodson & Horrell Itch Free helps my horse. Barrier Animal Healthcare Super Plus Fly Repellent or their Parasite Repel are good. My horse has sweet itch. The way yours rubs the mane and tail, plus the scurfy skin sounds like it could be. Mine has major reactions to insect bites coming up in lumps at the site of the bite, like you describe. Those pics of weeds you linked to are grass seed heads. They can be kind of spiky and your horse is a TB ( I think you said? ) so has thin skin compared to say a pony. Could be the grass is irritating her. Keeping mine stabled during the day (esp dawn & dusk) and out at night helps with sweet itch. If you're going to use shampoo, tea tree oil shampoo helps guard against infection its soothing and helps repel insects, citronella oil shampoo is insect repellent but some horses are allergic to citronella, Head & Shoulders shampoo for humans is good for soothing the skin and relieving the itching. Head & Shoulders with zinc in it may be enough but if not get the one with selenium in it. My vet recommended this.

 

[diluteherd]

My mare is similarly itchy at this time of year I was recommended to used apple cider vinegar in feed and also mix in with shampoo.
Give it ago I don't know if its a full proof but I do think if I remember rightly it elevated the itching for my mare

 

[Jeneth]

My Welsh Cob has sweet itch, he’s 7 and had it his whole life. He does have it fairly mildly compared to some but my vet recommended Benzyl Benzoate when he was about 3 and had scratched most of his mane and tail off. I have used it ever since from March to October about 3 – 4 times a week and honestly his mane and tail have been in tact ever since and he is sooooo much happier in himself! I tried loads of things and fly repellents don’t work, if it does turn out to be sweet itch that is the best thing out there. It’s amazing, it stops the midges getting to them but also soothes any sores or irritations. Vet Pharmacy and Hyperdrug are the 2 places on-line that I buy it from. Hope that helps!